What I found most impressive is that the trolls trolled the NYT in their own article.

I'm really surprised that the reporter, the editors of the NYT Magazine - no one, apparently - seemed to wonder too much about whether or not these guys, whose whole thing is fucking with people, were taking them for a ride.

The Rolls with a driver showing up to drive Weev around Fullerton, Ca., should have sent up red flags IMMEDIATELY.

What's awesome about this article, as someone pointed out, is it's hard to tell what's true and what isn't. "While reporting this article, I did everything I could to verify the trolls’ stories and identities, but I could never be certain." It creates an interesting tension. It's certainly reasonable to believe the troll was abused as a kid, but it's a narrative that I'd expect, a neat and pat way of explaining This Is Why I Am Who I Am.

I myself am skeptical about the factual details, but it's fascinating the way their personalities come out, and how they want to be viewed by the world.

I know/operate closely with these people, and the article doesn't really do justice to the mentality.

Most trolls of the type discussed in this article (the old Bantown clique + hangers on) are mentally unstable drug users with a history of destructive interpersonal relationships who grew up in abusive homes. We act in antisocial ways because we hold the media image of the psychopath as the ideal person; caring about other people has caused us emotional pain & we wish that we didn't have to care.

And yes, most of this holds true for me, too.

Oh, and just ignore anything RFJason says, he's a useless loser who courts media attn simply because the cool kids don't want to play with him.

Most trolls of the type discussed in this article (the old Bantown clique + hangers on) are mentally unstable drug users with a history of destructive interpersonal relationships who grew up in abusive homes. We act in antisocial ways because we hold the media image of the psychopath as the ideal person; caring about other people has caused us emotional pain & we wish that we didn't have to care.

That's interesting you'd say that, because I definitely thought "psychopath" multiple times while reading the article, but I have to question where the line is, you know? How much of it is IMITATION of psychopathy and how much of it IS psychopathy? How close to a psychopath do you have to be to imitate psychopathic behavior without becoming repulsed with yourself?

Also, I'd say there's quite a ways between not caring about other people and actively deciding that you know how everyone should act and attempting to visit particularly heinous consequences upon anyone who doesn't follow that pattern, even to the point of seeking out people to disapprove of and punish. The latter, which is the most logical explanation of trolling that I can find, seems to border on megalomania to me.